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A review by szynkaaa
Release by Lucy Christopher
4.0
I was 15 / 16 when I first read Stolen. And like a lot of readers back then, I too was rooting for Gemma and Tyler to stay together and their little make shift cottage in the middle of nowhere and live their happily ever after. I think I knew back then already that reading this novel, it was supposed to give you Stockholm Syndrome, that you'd sympathize with your captor and fall in love with him etc.. The ending was still realistic, but still disappointing in the sense they didn't end up together and Ty went to prison.
After that I went to look for fanfictions where Gemma and Ty did stay together lmfao.
I don't remember how I even came across Stolen the first time, but what I do remember is that it was one of the few books that catapult me into the book community (sorta).
And then years passed, I would occasionally think about Stolen once in a while. Now that I'm older and not too much wiser and consumed quite few true crime podcast, I realized what a fucked up situation the whole Gemma kidnapping was. Obviously Ty belonged to prison and Gemma needed tons of therapy. It was still a very well written book imo.
One day, I decided to check out if in ye olde 2022, were people still reading Stolen? That's when I found out, a whole sequel has been released holy shit
I don't think I'm gonna sum up everything that happened in the book. I see a lot of 1-2 star reviews saying that they still wished that Gemma and Ty ended up together.
And I get that the disappointment. I really. It's a book, it's not a real, it's a fiction. They may both be wrong for each other and boy did Ty fuck up majorly and also need so much therapy, but the 16-years old inside me also wished that they would have ended up together in their happily after.
However, ultimately I'm satisfied with the way Release ended. I know that the ending is up to interpretation with what really happened with Ty, but I do think that we should keep in mind the book is written from Gemma's POV; and she is not the most reliable narrator. I also think there were just too many things hinting at that she did shoot him in the end and hid his body in the cave inside the pool.
My only ick with the book is that she ended up being pregnant with his child. Like, she was haunted her whole life but the kidnapping and by Ty, and she says that she finally got her """release""" (by shooting him). But then she has a child with him??? like idk man. I just feel so sorry for this fictional baby that is not even born yet or whatever
Also. I really wanna punch Nick in the face. Never liked that guy
After that I went to look for fanfictions where Gemma and Ty did stay together lmfao.
I don't remember how I even came across Stolen the first time, but what I do remember is that it was one of the few books that catapult me into the book community (sorta).
And then years passed, I would occasionally think about Stolen once in a while. Now that I'm older and not too much wiser and consumed quite few true crime podcast, I realized what a fucked up situation the whole Gemma kidnapping was. Obviously Ty belonged to prison and Gemma needed tons of therapy. It was still a very well written book imo.
One day, I decided to check out if in ye olde 2022, were people still reading Stolen? That's when I found out, a whole sequel has been released holy shit
I don't think I'm gonna sum up everything that happened in the book. I see a lot of 1-2 star reviews saying that they still wished that Gemma and Ty ended up together.
And I get that the disappointment. I really. It's a book, it's not a real, it's a fiction. They may both be wrong for each other and boy did Ty fuck up majorly and also need so much therapy, but the 16-years old inside me also wished that they would have ended up together in their happily after.
However, ultimately I'm satisfied with the way Release ended. I know that the ending is up to interpretation with what really happened with Ty, but I do think that we should keep in mind the book is written from Gemma's POV; and she is not the most reliable narrator. I also think there were just too many things hinting at that she did shoot him in the end and hid his body in the cave inside the pool.
My only ick with the book is that she ended up being pregnant with his child. Like, she was haunted her whole life but the kidnapping and by Ty, and she says that she finally got her """release""" (by shooting him). But then she has a child with him??? like idk man. I just feel so sorry for this fictional baby that is not even born yet or whatever
Also. I really wanna punch Nick in the face. Never liked that guy